


With Proper Motivation

by Fayah



Category: DCU, Young Justice (Cartoon)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2012-06-10
Updated: 2012-12-01
Packaged: 2017-11-07 10:58:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 8,128
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/430313
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fayah/pseuds/Fayah
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Mr. Freeze realizes that there's a much easier way to find the cure to his wife's terminal illness: inject Robin with the same disease and let Batman do the work for him. After all, the dark knight can supposedly do anything when given the proper motivation.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**| GOTHAM CITY**

| June 28th, 6:32 P.M.

Nora will never be anything less than beautiful to his eyes. Now, more than ever, her beauty reminds him of how frail she really is. Her face is deathly pale from years of living in her frosty chamber and her thin disease-ravaged body looks as if it could easily break with just a touch. Thick sheets of ice enfold her in their embrace, cradling her, keeping her safe yet so far away from his touch.

And it isn't right.

He remembers when Nora's pale cheeks were once a lovely shade of rose. When her bone-thin body had once sported lovely curves that he adored tracing gently with his fingers. He remembers her warm hands enclosing around his own, now unfeeling, ones. And he remembers her lips, her arms, her embrace, always warm and inviting.

And it isn't fair.

She's so close, just tauntingly out of reach, but he can only watch, palms pressed to cold glass. With the chamber at the center of his lab, the one lab he makes absolutely certain even Batman cannot track, Nora serves as a constant reminder of his purpose, his goal.

He's not a petty criminal. Once upon a time, they used to call him a prodigy, a man of promise with a revolutionary view on cryogenics. Before he had sold his soul and adopted his alias of Mr. Freeze, he was once Victor Fries. And above all, he's a scientist. He learns from his failed experiments.

He knows a lost cause when he sees it. With Batman keeping a close eye on his actions, it will take decades - perhaps longer - to obtain enough money to complete his research on Nora's disease, and he'll never finish it alone. His reputation, his  _appearance_ , has already alienated him from the scientific community.

But now, he has a better plan. Victor Fries smiles, and he can feel his facial muscles slowly stretch, straining at the unfamiliar action. His hands leisurely stroke a black case that held his newest weapon, compliments of Lex Luthor.

Victor doesn't even mind owing that man – and his organization, the Light was it? – a favor. All the better that their schemes would draw Batman's attention away from his own agenda. Whatever the outcome, he would be the true winner. He had to be, for Nora's sake.

* * *

|  **GOTHAM CITY**

****| July 4th, 12:00 PM

Another family goes down, frozen under a thick sheet of ice, and he wonders how long it will take the dynamic duo to come. He has planned this meticulously for weeks, making sure to pick the date of the attack on a weekend – the boy wonder was, after all, just a school boy – and at a location the dynamic duo often monitored.

Finally, a batarang bounced off his gun, causing him to stagger slightly. "Batman," he says with only the slightest hint of satisfaction in his voice, "I was wondering when…"

A boyish cackle breaks out, and Victor forces himself to not get into the habit of smiling.

It was show time.

The boy wonder jumps onto his domed helmet, throwing him off balance before smaller red batarangs impale themselves into the glass in front of his face. "Oh, boy wonder," he states in the most unimpressed voice he could manage, "the Bat sent you here to drag me off to prison? Frankly, I'm  _underwhelmed_."

"Great, but I'm kinda in a hurry here," Robin replies with a cocky grin. Victor muses at how carefree, energetic, and sickeningly  _bright_ the boy looks – just as Nora once was. Gothamites call him the light to Batman's darkness, his canary yellows and bold reds bringing color to Batman's dull greys and blacks. But if he couldn't have his light, why should Batman be allowed his?

While the boy seemed preoccupied, Victor quickly switches the setting on his weapon and fires.

The boy's eyes widen a fraction and he moves to dodge, but the black dart still manages to hit true to its target and lodges itself in his arm. "Ugh," Robin groans, and he reaches to remove the dart, noticing the ice that quickly begins to crawl up his arm from the location of the wound.

Victor smirks, silently celebrating his success. And it's just in time before Batman descends upon him with a vicious kick. He feigns unconsciousness. No need for a fight. He has already done his part for the Light's scheme.

"Robin," he hears Batman call out. The Bat is as perfect as ever in maintaining a flat tone of voice even in the face of his injured partner.

"It's fine Bats," Robin replies, offering the removed dart to his mentor. "I just need to get my shoulder thawed."

Batman took the dart from Robin's hand and stares at it with narrowed eyes. The weapon is atypical of the ice villain who normally does not go farther than using his primary freeze gun, and he could already assume from the complicated multi-part design that it must have cost a fortune to make - a fortune that Victor Fries had no means of obtaining by himself. "We'll need to get this analyzed."

"But not now Batman, todays  _the_  day! It's going to take long enough getting de-thawed! And you  _promised_!"

Robin held his ground firmly, doing his best to mimic Bruce's glare. Gotham had trapped him like a hellish birdcage for the last two weeks with the recent jail breakout and he would absolutely not let Roy and Wally hold his absence to the meeting over his head. A tense stare-off between the two hereos lasts for only seconds until Batman relents and turns away. "Agent A will analyze Freeze's new weapon."

"Yes!" A delighted cackle echoes through Gotham park once again. The defeated villain could already imagine the boy dashing off with a bounce to his step despite the injury. Just as planned.

' _Fly little Robin,_ " Victor muses to himself, ' _fly while you still can._ '

* * *

|  **GOTHAM CITY**  
| July 5th, 1:30 AM

"We'll need a blood sample," Batman states, not even looking away from the monitor he is typing on.

Robin groans, raising his free arm in exasperation. "I just had a  _building_ fall on me today Bats, can't you give me a break?"

"Master  _Richard_ ," Alfred spoke in a half scolding tone of voice as he wraps his shoulder wound a bit tighter than necessary. Dick winces. Apparently, Alfred still has not forgiven him for ' _recklessly endangering your life once again_ ' at Cadmus. "Analysis of the dart has shown an injection mechanism timed to the release of a spray of freezing agent at impact. It is quite possible that he has injected you with something."

A sigh escapes the injured boy, followed by a confused frown. "But…that's just not his game. He's  _Mr. Freeze_ ," a name that could not be any less creative, Robin thinks to himself, "not Scarecrow. He just  _freezes_ things, as lame as that is."

" _Robin_."

Both Alfred and Batman are giving him identical looks of disapproval. He knows that he has lost, and he isn't feeling the aster at all. " _Fine_."

* * *

|  **MOUNT JUSTICE**  
| July 8th, 8:17 AM

"Robin, a word." Batman's voice is low, but as commanding in presence as ever. The younger heros look to him curiously, expecting an explanation for whisking away a teammate so soon, but Batman offers none and instead starts walking towards the Zeta beam.

The team look back at Robin, only to find him missing from his former location. A giggle catches their attention once more - the boy has already slid right next to Batman's side as if he had always been there. He turns his head backwards and gives a casual wave to his friends, "Nice meeting you Miss M, seeya guys!"

"Recognized, Batman, 02. Recognized, Robin, B01."

No questions are asked, and none are explained. M'gann tilts her head at the empty zeta tube. "I wonder what's wrong…"

Superboy and Kaldur, both also unfamiliar with relationship between the dynamic duo, share equally puzzled looks. Wally just drapes an arm casually around Megan's shoulder, unfazed by it all. "Don't sweat it babe, it's just bat stuff. They always do that."

* * *

|  **GOTHAM CITY**  
| July 8th, 8:27 AM

"So what's up B?"

"Your bloodtests are back."

"Great, all clear?"

Batman grunts in affirmation. He's halfway finished with removing his cowl, and has already changed back to his regular business suit in record time. Bruce Wayne had a meeting to catch, so Batman acts as swiftly and efficiently as ever. "You only have a slight immune response, but you'll be staying under observation to make sure your wounds don't get infected."

Robin groans, yet follows his mentor's cue anyways and takes off his sunglasses. "But it's a  _Saturday_! Can't I at least patrol tonight?"

"No."

Before Dick could even start to open his mouth in protest, Bruce throws him a black flashdrive that he reflexively catches. The younger boy cocks an eyebrow. "What's this?"

"Information. Yesterday, four ice villains attacked on the same day, hours apart from each other. "

In seconds, the flashdrive is already hooked up to his wrist computer. Information flashes quickly before his screen and he scans through it with a sharp eye. "Dr. Freeze, Captain Cold, Icicle Junior, and Killer Frost. All are repeat offenders, but they've never even met each other. What's the connection?"

"You find it."

Robin grins, seating himself in the Bat-computer. It wasn't every day that Bruce handed him a case - especially an important one like this. It almost makes up for being benched from patrol. Just barely.

"Challenge accepted."


	2. Chapter 2

| **STAR CITY**  
| July 17, 11:26 PM

The adrenaline from the battle is still running as high as their hopes, and all three teens look to Roy expectantly. Their team's been together for almost two weeks, but there's just one person missing. Robin is the one to finally pop the question.

"So, Speedy, you in?"

"Pass." Roy's eyes narrow, and his voice is angry, _harsh_. After the battle with Brick, he's more confident than ever in his choice to step away from his former identity. "I'm done with Arrow and the League telling me what to do. I don't need babysitter or a clubhouse hangout with the other kids. Your junior Justice League is a _joke_ , something to keep you busy, and. In. Your. Place. I don't want any part of it."

Robin frowns as his oldest friend walks away without even looking back. His mind recalls to the data files Batman has given him access to; they had been a dead end, despite the hours of work he had poured into tracking the villains' movements prior to Independence Day. Batman hasn't mentioned it since, and that has only increased Robin's suspicions. Did Batman give him a literally cold case? Left out information? Let him dig in, but not dig too deep?

He wants to pursue Speedy, to get his opinion on the matter, because if anyone knows anything about suffocating billionaire guardians and their tactics to distract their wards, it's Roy. But just as Robin reaches out, a wave of dizziness hits him and he has to support himself against a wall to keep himself from falling over. Suddenly, he's not feeling the aster anymore.

Wally, even in the dark, notices immediately. "Rob? You alright man?"

Robin feels a worried hand on his shoulder and that seems to be enough to whisk away his temporary disorientation. He recomposes himself and stands just a bit straighter, because there's no need to get his best friend worried over nothing. "Yeah, just a little dizzy. Must be the lack of sleep."

"Batman's working you hard on patrol?"

"Yeah." Except not really, but Robin doesn't want to tell Wally that he's actually been working on his own covert case the last few weeks. It's _his_ case, and he wants to settle it alone. Even if Batman thinks he's given up on it and has regulated it to a lower priority level.

"Well, my friend, I know _just_ what you need," Wally begins in a grand voice and a devious smirk on his face. The speedster pulls Robin away from the crime scene, arm wrapped casually around the younger boy's neck. "I heard Star City just opened a new ice cream shop, 92 flavors!"

The boy wonder chuckles, because he doesn't need to be psychic to know how this would play out. "I'm paying, aren't I?"

* * *

| **GOTHAM CITY**  
| AUGUST 3, 9:51 PM

Robin works slowly, but intently, on making sure Amazo is definitely turned off. He does his best to swallow down that nausea that has been striking him a bit too frequently, and wills his body not to sway in front of his teammates. At the first sign of illness, he knows Batman will bench him, and he can't allow that. The team needs him. _Bruce_ needs him.

And perhaps he has had a bit too many late nights, because he doesn't even notice when Superboy turns to him and says, "I'm feeling the aster."

There's something like a heavy thick cotton dulling his senses. It's getting harder to even concentrate on the wire that has somehow stubbornly duplicated itself in his spinning vision. Superboy frowns, but luckily the team interprets his distraction as deep concentration and they soon leave him to do his work. Wally, however, stays.

"Dude, are you sure you're alright?"

Robin hears this time and looks up. He immediately regrets it, because the nausea hits him harder than ever. Biting back a groan, Robin looks back down and hopes his best friend doesn't notice his trembling hand. "Y-yeah."

He's really off his game, because the tremble in his voice is horribly obvious and it only made the speedster more concerned.

"Oh really?" Wally challenges, "Then how come you missed when you threw those batarangs at Amazo? You _never_ miss."

"Just an off day, we all have them." Robin is getting irritated now, because he _knows_ his performance tonight was shoddy. Shoddy enough that his best friend may have gotten hurt if not for the interference of the mysterious arrow. He needs to get over this sickness, he needs to be better, stronger, _faster_ if he wants to protect everyone, if he doesn't want to feel the pain of losing someone all over again. It only takes one fall, after all.

"Rob-"

"Look," Robin snaps, pulling at the wire to the point that it snaps and electricity hisses under his palms, "I'm just human, when I get the stomach bug, it lasts for _days_ , not just hours like for you."

Wally frowns and approaches his friend like he would a cornered animal. He notices that Robin is more out of breath than normal and even a bit paler, but it's hard to tell in the dark. He doesn't need to see through the domino mask to know that his friend is frustrated, and Wally realizes a bit too late that maybe it isn't the best time to blurt out, "then why were you doing missions if you're sick?"

" _Because_ , if Batman finds out, he'll bench me for a _month_." Robin is about to pull another wire, but thinks about it for a second, and releases it instead. His voice becomes softer. "Wally, I just…I can't be benched for that long."

Robin is as much his identity as Dick Grayson is. The thrill, the strength, the _satisfaction_ he feels as Robin is what helps Dick Grayson fall asleep without dreams of snapped wires and falling bodies. And on nights that he's absent, Bruce comes home just a bit more rugged, a bit more torn from braving the dangers of Gotham alone. Dick refuses to stay at home only to wait for Bruce to come back, and he refuses to wait uselessly for the day that Bruce doesn't come back.

"He'd bench you for that long?" Wally asks, slightly surprised. He realizes that he's never seen Robin sick. Ever. The younger boy always appeared so carefree, so invincible, that they've never really talked about it until now. "I'm sure it's not that-"

"He's done it before, although he tried to do it _permanently_ that time."

Of course, there is a vast difference between getting beaten half to death by one of Batman's rogues and getting a stomach flu, but he desperately needs Wally to not tell the team. This is nothing worth depriving Batman of a partner and the team of their resident hacker for a month.

"Fine," the speedster finally says after a tense silence. Robin lets out a small sigh, and Wally crouches down next to him with a playful grin.

"So, need a hand? I've always wanted to try to disassemble a super robot."

* * *

| **GOTHAM CITY**  
| August 21, 1:05 PM

"Mr. Grayson."

"Mr. _Grayson._ "

Dick flinches upwards, spine straight, with eyes still half-lidded with drowsiness. They eventually focus in on the slightly annoyed face of his math teacher. "I…uh…hi Mr. Henderson."

"Mr. Grayson, I'm glad you have decided to grace this class with your attention," the teacher begins, contempt evident in his voice. He has never liked Dick's stellar test scores despite his long-standing record of having the shoddiest class attendance.

"Sorry," Dick apologizes honestly with a slight blush. It's rare that he ever sleeps in class, because he doesn't want to bother Bruce with school issues on top of the other cases the dynamic duo tackle. He's slipping up more and more, and it's beyond embarrassing that even his civilian teacher notices.

But the teacher relents, as expected. He's Dick Grayson, and that gives him an almost automatic pardon on all issues that fall short of assault. When the teacher turns his back, Barbara leans towards him with a judging eye.

"Dick, are you still sick with that stomach flu?"

"Nah, just a late night Babs."

Even though he has temporarily shelved the ice villain case, he's still only getting six hours between pulling off the Dynamic Duo combo with Batman and helping out the team on their missions. It used to be enough, but his body is getting too tired too quickly these days, and he doesn't know what's wrong. Maybe he's doing too much, maybe it's one of those growing phases that Alfred mentions from time to time.

Whatever it is, he just hopes it'll pass, like the nausea that is now once again on remission.

"You know," Barbara is leaning very close to him now, uncomfortably close, "your eyes are getting a bit yellow."

She's frowning, and Dick automatically knows what she's thinking; yellow sclarea, jaundice. But it can't be true, because the stomach flu is gone and despite his fatigue, he is better now than he was a week ago when he was begging Bruce to let him patrol individually so that Bruce wouldn't catch his sudden fits of dizziness.

He backs away. "You're imagining things, it's just the lighting."

Barbara is about to protest when Mr. Henderson lets out a loud cough. They look to see that he's staring at them, and both smile sheepishly. Dick avoids talking to Barbara for the rest of the day, a feat that he pulls off easily considering they only have two classes together.

When he returns home, he locks his door and leans close to his mirror, examining his own eyes. He sees light yellow and frowns. The next day, he asks Alfred if they can replace his bathroom light and dismisses the detail once again.

* * *

| **MOUNT JUSTICE**  
| August 27, 6:17 PM

It isn't even a week later when the illness strikes again, much to Dick's dismay. The mission against Clayface has been an absolute disaster, heavy on the dis.

"I need to talk to Aqualad. The rest of you hit the showers and head home."

To Batman's surprise, his ward doesn't even linger and immediately takes the opportunity to disappear around a corner just as Superboy spits out a sarcastic comment. He files the odd behavior in the back of his mind for later. For now, the Atlantean has his attention.

* * *

| **GOTHAM CITY**

| August 27, 6:27 PM

Robin is extremely thankful that he has managed to crawl into his shower at Wayne Manor before he hurls the contents of his lunch out into the drain below as the water washes it away along with the mud on his body. His hands are trembling again and the disorientation comes back in waves, but he knows that it'll disappear again if he waits long enough. He didn't expect it to be back so soon (or ever). It had been gone for a whole week, but it returned with a vengeance when Clayface appeared.

He counts his breathing, and tries to focus on the tiny etchings on the tiles that line the shower wall instead of the impressive display of acrobatics that his stomach seems to be doing. Eventually, he feels well enough to stumble out of the shower. Dick is glad that his room is the one place Bruce and Alfred do not monitor, because it would be beyond mortifying to let his guardians see his sorry state.

It's frustrating - how weak his body feels, how he's holding his team back to the point that they are now failing missions, how he can't even find the energy to work off these frustrations in a gym. Instead, he throws on some pajamas and crawls into bed. He doesn't want to face Bruce, and he definitely doesn't want to face the possibility that he may actually be seriously sick. It's been over a month, and he knows he's not at peak performance. Something's off.

But he doesn't want to think about it now. All he wants to do is sleep. So he does.

* * *

| **GOTHAM CITY**  
| August 27, 8:04 PM

Bruce is further baffled when he fails to find Dick at the gym as he had expected. He searches the batcave and finds it empty as well. He tries the entertainment room, the outside courts, and even the kitchen with the same results. Finally, Alfred calmly informs him in a slightly irritated voice that Master Richard is in his room and had fallen asleep through his dinner call.

He slides into the dark room, quiet enough not to wake Dick who is as light as a sleeper as he is. The boy's pillow is damp, and his blankets lay half-hazardously scattered all around his bed. Slowly, he re-arranges the blankets to cover Dick's entire frame and frowns when he notices that the boy has gotten thinner. Alfred has good reason to be displeased with Dick for missing dinner, but the boy looks so tired that even the dark knight doesn't have the heart to wake him.

Replacing the damp pillow with a new, dry one finally wakes up the sleepy boy wonder despite Bruce's efforts to be discreet. "Bruce?" Dick murmurs, eyes still closed. "Is it time for patrol?"

Bruce puts the new pillow in place and then places a comforting hand on his ward's shoulder. "No, go back to sleep Dick," he lies.

Dick settles into the new pillow, seemingly content. Then, he shifts his face closer into the pillow before he softly mutters, "Sorry...about the mission."

"The team was disorganized when going in. Aqualad's inability to pay adequate caution to the situation was hardly your fault."

The words seem to pass over the now sleeping boy though, and Bruce quietly leaves the room. Afterwards, he makes a note to Alfred to buy the absurdly sugary brand of cereal Dick likes for breakfast. The boy needs to gain some weight, and a treat wouldn't hurt once in a while.

* * *

**A/N:** Sorry that it's still progressing a bit slowly and with little action - these things take a little time to kick in. There will be much more significant things happening next chapter with a bit of a more obvious break-off from canon. I actually planned to update this next week but I was blown away by all the responses I received, so I decided to edit and put this up early since I do have quite a bit of this fic already written out.

Thanks for all your support! And as always, any feedback whatsoever is appreciated, even gibberish. I'm totally fluent in gibberish (not really, but if you want to try, COME AT ME BRO)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry that it's still progressing a bit slowly and with little action - these things take a little time to kick in. There will be much more significant things happening next chapter with a bit of a more obvious break-off from canon.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The team has a (mis)adventure in Bialya

|  **BIALYA**  
| September 4th, 6:04 AM

He wakes up to the feel of rough sand and the steady beat of sunlight against his back. His body feels like a block of lead and his head doesn't feel any better. Robin wonders if anyone caught the license plate of the car that appears to have ran him over...repeatedly. Then dumped his body in a desert apparently.

The faint sound of rolling wheels treading through sand goes unnoticed until it's too late. The soft mutterings of their engines transform into roars as they approach. They've spotted him. Finally, the adrenaline kicks in and Robin moves to turn on the radio piece in his ear, but-

_"Maintain radio silence at all times."_

Right. That isn't an option, because he always remembers Batman's orders before all else. If only the rest of his memories stuck that well. He switches to plan B.

Robin lets whoever is approaching come close. The opaque mask allows him to feign unconsciousness until they begin to grab his arm. When they do, he lashes out, knocking both away with a simultaneous kick and punch followed by a flip to gain distance. His body is practically screaming in protest, but Robin ignores it in favor of noting the Bialyan military uniforms the men are wearing. Then it all comes together: the terrain, the weather, and the radio silence - standard procedure in enemy territory.

' _What am I doing in **Bialya**?_ '

More men emerge from a nearby truck, and they're already on their radio, requesting back-up. Robin groans - this is not going to be fun. He tries to disappear out of sight behind another rock, but his knees quickly give out on him and he falls to his ground.

Coughs begin to assault his lungs, and he tries his best to silence them all while suppressing his own panic. He has no clue what's happening, why he's being attacked, why he's in a  _Bialya_ , and most importantly, why his body is breaking down on him.

He looks down at his hands only to see blood, and that scares him more than ever. Dick wants to call Bruce - radio silence be damned - but Robin reminds himself that he needs to follow orders.

A rocket goes off, and he only manages to widen his eyes before he's blasted back into the sand and into unconsciousness.

* * *

|  **BIALYA**  
| September 4th, 3:04 PM

"So, let me get this straight. We're supposed to be some teenage version of the Justice League who are on some kind of stealth mission, we somehow ended up with memory loss, and now we're missing two members?"

"Well...yes."

Kid Flash and Artemis look more and more skeptical the longer Miss Martian leads them along a long trek through the desert with no end in sight. The Martian seems genuine, but the heat and exhaustion are getting to them, grating away at their patience.

"And you're saying Robin's on this team too?"

"Yes."

"Then where's the boy wonder?" Artemis finally snaps, and finally stops walking. "We've been following you for an  _hour_  and I see no sight of _anyone_. How do we know you aren't lying?"

"I...I actually don't know where he is," M'gann admits, "I was just hoping I could pick up on his thoughts or he could pick up on mine, that's how I found you two...and Superboy."

This response doesn't satisfy the archerer who narrows her eyes. "Your  _Superboy_  tried to  _attack_ us! How is he our teammate anyways?"

"I don't remember," the Martian answers honestly, "but I know how we can find out. If you guys open your mind to me, we can put together our memory fragments into a whole."

The two look at her with even more skepticism than ever. "You want to mess with our  _minds_? No way!"

Artemis has already turned around, about to leave, when Wally runs infront of her to intercept. "Whoa, hold up. Do we  _really_ want to continue wandering around a desert with no clue what's going on? This is our only chance. And she knew our names, so she can't be that bad."

"Assassins also know the name of their targets," Artemis mutters, but she rethinks the situation. After a moment, the archer finally turns around. "Fine, do it. But last six months only, and only what you need."

Wally grabs her hand and smiles. It only takes seconds for scenes to flash before their eyes, six months worth of memories compressed into six seconds: Cadmus, Mount Justice, the team, their missions,  _Bialya_.

The three gasp all at once. Artemis is the first to speak and she lets go of Wally's hand as if it was poisonous.

"Great, now we're missing  _three_  team members."

* * *

|  **QURAC**  
| September 5, 1:32 AM

"Hey everyone, I've got Superboy, and I'm on my way."

"Who are you? And how did you get inside my head?"

" _Hello,_ Megan! Aqualad's memories! I knew I forgot something!"

" _Hello_ guys, we're still missing a member!" Wally practically shouts into the link. He completely fails to hide his worry. Yeah, sometimes he teasingly calls Robin the boy hostage, but it's obvious the boy is the least likely of them all to get captured with his absurd knack for disappearing in thin air. If anyone would have put two and two together about this situation by now, it would be his best friend.

His still  _missing_ best friend.

His still missing best friend who has been avoiding him for weeks, and Wally is pretty sure he knows why. It doesn't bode well for any of them.

"It's the boy wonder," Artemis reasons, "who knows, maybe he's already back at Mount Justice waiting for us."

With their memories back, the two return to their normal pattern of arguing as Wally stops in front of Artemis, eyes flared with worry and arms raised in exasperation. "Except he doesn't even know we're a team yet!"

"Maybe he's at Gotham then," Artemis retorts, but with much less conviction as she backs away and diverts her eyes.

"Look," Wally enunciates, "haven't you guys noticed that Rob's been a bit...off? Last month, he had the stomach flu and he's been avoiding me since!"

"He looked fine to me last week," Megan chimes in from the link, confusion in her voice.

"Of course," the speedster replies a bit bitterly. "He always is."

They lapse into a silence until Megan arrives with Superboy and a large sphere. Wally is pacing, almost a blur in the space ship. Kaldur, now a bit more calmer, watches the group with interest, and soon has his memories returned as well.

The Atlantian groans after the memory transfer, holding a hand to his head. However, all too soon, Kid Flash is in his face.

"So what're we going to do about Robin?"

And Kaldur's beginning to wish that he could return to blissfully unconscious, but he is the team leader, and he must take responsibility. "We are in Qurac now, are we not?"

Megan glances to a hologram screen on her bio ship and nods.

"Then we shall break radio silence."

* * *

|  **GOTHAM CITY**  
| September 4, 6:45 PM

(7 hour timezone difference)

Bruce Wayne is at a meeting when his communicator vibrates. With a sheepish smile, he excuses himself for some reason or another - no one complains, thankfully. It's not a rare event for the billionaire to disappear at random, but Bruce's attendance to the recent meetings have been nothing short of spectacular compared to his usual shoddy records, so his peers do not begrudge him this one leave.

"Batman?"

"Aqualad," he replies expectantly.

"Robin's missing, and the team was wondering if he has made contact you."

Batman frowns. "No, I  _ordered_ radio silence. What happened?"

"We got attacked and separated by a mental attack from a man named Psimon. We have been unable to track Robin after our separation."

"He hasn't contacted you?"

"...No." Batman can practically hear the unease in Aqualad's voice, and he also struggles to keep his voice flat.

"Find him."

Bruce shuts off the communicator, then brings out his personal phone to call Alfred. He knows his actions will risk bringing back his reputation as an unreliable absentee president of Wayne Enterprises, but he's been neglecting his ward for far too long, trusting him to manage on his own with the help of his team. Clearly, this has not been enough for the boy. Bruce has no excuses left. A limo picks him up minutes later, and he makes it back to the batcave in record time.

"Master Bruce." Alfred is holding a platter with a drink: tea, still steaming with a relaxing fragrance. Bruce takes it, and as he sips, Alfred pops the question: "Has something happened to Master Richard?"

The question remains unanswered while Bruce's eyes remain transfixed to the screen that continues to flash the words "scanning" over and over again. Alfred joins him in silence.

Scanning...

Scanning...

Scanning...

Those words flickered ominously until eventually, a red "no signal" appears with a solemn air of finality, and Bruce bites back the first stirrings of anxiety. He should have figured. The Bialyan military has invested heavily the last few years in jamming technologies. They keep their secrets close, and Dick could be one of them now.

Bruce knows he has entrusted the team to handle these situations when he gave his ward permission to join the new-found team. But now that he finally has to say the words, "he's missing," Bruce can't help but want to take a jet to Bialya immediately.

* * *

|  **BIALYA**  
| September 5, 7:03 A.M.

When he wakes up, Robin is surprised to find himself in a hospital bed with an IV drip attached to his wrist. For a second, he catches himself looking for Alfred or Bruce, but he quickly realizes that no, this isn't the Batcave. It's too bright, too white, too foreign.

His hand darts to his face, and sighs in relief as he feels the comforting fabric of his mask. Dick Grayson's identity is still safe. He is still Robin.

"Batman has you trained well," he hears a voice chuckle. The aforementioned training kicks in and Robin immediately profiles the voice. Female, middle age, a light but evident foreign accent. His assumptions are proven correct when Queen Bee emerges, walking with all the confidence of a born-and-raised leader.

Robin's eyes narrow, and he immediately darts upright from the bed. Apparently, he is still in Bialya, right in the hands of the enemy with an IV full of who knows what running through his veins. The term "worst case scenario" screams in his mind.

"Why am I here?"

"Uh uhn," Queen Bee warns, pressing her palm against Robin's cheek gently. His first instinct was to pull away, but he found his body frozen. It's the second time that his body has been uncooperative since he's landed in Bialya and he still has no clue what's going on. But he won't give anyone the satisfaction of seeing him scared, so he does his best to glare at the foreign woman through his mask.

She only seems to be amused at the glare, and presses Robin back down on the bed. "You should be thankful to me  _boy_ , you were dying, but I was gracious enough to save you."

And that caught Robin off guard. " _What_?"

"But don't worry  _Robin_ ," she almost purrs, leaning in even closer. "We still have uses for you."

The thick scent of the woman's perfume is overpowering, clogging his already hazy senses. Robin tries to lash out, but his hands are slow and weak. His eyes are already half closed, and as much as he tries to fight it, unconsciousness begins to drag him down again.

' _Bruce!_ ' He desperately calls out in his head. It's a plea and a reminder. He needs to stay awake. For Bruce, for Alfred, for the  _league_. He knows too many secrets.

With one last rebellious groan, Robin manages to push off the older woman. Her face is full of shock, and he lets out a small victorious breath of release. However, it catches in his throat, transforming into a cough that has his body bending in half, and it is only then that he is reminded how much it hurts to even move a muscle let alone have his whole body shaken up by deep coughs.

"I wasn't lying when I said you were dying," Queen Bee informs him with vicious satisfaction. She has already picked herself off from the floor and seems as composed once again. "I've only been keeping you unconscious out of mercy, but I suppose with that strong will of yours, you can handle a bit of pain."

Robin can't even respond in between coughs.


	4. Chapter 4

|  **BIALYA**

| September 5, 4:30 PM

"I can't sense him here," Megan tells them through the link. They've been searching since the regroup in Quarac, and as each hour passes, everyone feels the growing anxiety.

The desert is completely barren, no sign of life in sight. Even the troops they saw earlier have retreated without a trace. There are no leads, no one to question, and no direction in their investigation.

"We should have looked for him earlier!" Wally snaps through the link. The restlessness and guilt that the speedster is radiating feels almost tangible through the mental link, and the other members go silent. They are equally responsible for this failure, for losing their youngest. The question of "what happened" lingers, and one bad scenario after another flashes through the mental link to Megan's mind.

Robin may be buried under sand, skin red from the hours under the raging sun. Or he may be alone, confused with a gaping six month hole in his memory, wandering the seemingly endless desert landscape,  _abandoned_. Or he could even possibly be captured, caught unaware when fatigue and dehydration had him down. He's out there, waiting for Batman, but Batman isn't in Bialya. They are.

And they're failing him.

Then, they hear a frustrated growl - Superboy. The sound of his fist impacting the ground breaks the silence even further, causing tremors that manage to reach the team yards away.

"Superboy? What's wrong?" Megan is not the only one worried, because by the time she reaches Superboy, the rest of the team is already there as well, looking over in concern at their teammate who is staring at the self-made crater with an almost feral expression.

"Be  _quiet_!"

In a split second, another punch follows the outraged cry and the whole team backs off immediately from the backlash of sand.

From under a layer of sand, Artemis groans. "Please don't tell me someone mind-wiped him twice in one week."

"No," Megan assures herself, flying to Superboy's side. She would have noticed, because that's something Megan will  _never_  let happen to the team ever again. Still, something is wrong, and she needs to check. One touch is all the Martian needs to pick up on the frustration of a fruitless search, the irritation of an unending loud buzzing that only grows more overwhelming by the second, the sense of failure - he's failed Robin, failed as a clone, failed to -  _get out of my head!_

A strong arm flings the Martian backwards, breaking the contact. Wally is by her side in an instant, but she reaches out to Superboy instead.

"Wait! Superboy, I didn't mean to-"

"Shut. Up!"

He's sick of it all: this burning heat, this pathetic search, this unbearable  _failure_. The noise won't stop, and none of his teammates can hear it like he has ever since they set foot in the country. But it was only humming then, now it's practically  _screeching_. They're looking at him with confusion and concern, but they don't get it. And he can't explain it, because the noise keeps breaking his train of thought until all he can think about is his annoyance and rage and  _that noise_.

It needs to stop-

He needs to stop it-

_Now_.

Without a word, he's off to a sprint towards the noise, leaving the other chatting members behind. Superboy hears the cries of his name, because he can hear  _everything_  and that's part of the problem - everything is being drowned under that incessant buzzing.

"...looks like we have our lead," Wally comments while pulling down his goggles in anticipation of a chase. Kaldur stops him though, gesturing at Artemis who is still trying to get the sand out of her costume.

"We must stick together," Kaldur firmly insists in a tone of voice that reminds the team exactly who is the leader of their group. Then, he looks over to Megan. The Martian still looks shaken up, but they do not have time to dwell on mistakes. They can't lose track of their teammates again.

"Call the bioship."

* * *

|  **GOTHAM CITY**

| September 5th, 9:50 AM

(7 hour timezone difference)

Bruce usually knows when Gotham shifts in uneasiness, because Gotham is  _his_  city, but what's disconcerting is that he doesn't realize it earlier. For the first time in months, his surveillance system has failed to go off. Yet outside his home, he can easily hear the noisy mess of cars that is worse than just the usual morning traffic - a sure sign of a disturbance.

His suspicions grow as he tries to switch on the television for the news, only to find static.

The reality of the situation only fully hits him when he tries his Justice League communicator and finds it dead. It should be impossible for the League communicator to go off - the security of the line is even heavier than that of the Pentagon. He knows, because he helped design it.

All his morning plans are pushed aside in favor of heading to the batcave. Like so many times before, he pushes back the head of the statue that opens the way to the elevator. Except this time, nothing happens.

Bruce frowns.

"Computer override, BW1991."

"...Access Denied," replies the computer system.

This is the only hint he needs to deduce exactly who is responsible. There is only one person who could delete his own override code - one person who he  _trusted_  to do so if necessary. Except he knows that this is probably not that time of necessity. This is something else entirely, and he is more worried than ever for his missing ward.

But now is not the time to dwell on his thoughts. He needs information, needs to ascertain the scale of what has happened. This is not the least of the things his ward can do. Robin has far surpassed him in the area of technology, and he is almost kicking himself about trusting the boy with so much access. Bruce curses the blindness of his own pride.

Thankfully, he is prepared in other ways. He changes with well-practiced efficiency into the spare batsuit he keeps hidden elsewhere in the manor, and he's out before Alfred could even inquire about his actions.

Gotham is in chaos.

The traffic lights have all shut down, and people are out on the streets in a riot. From just snippets of conversation, he learns that most electronic communication is down - the internet, the radio, the television,  _everything_. No one knows what is going on, and conspiracy theories ranging from alien invasions to a government agenda proliferate from word of mouth.

It doesn't take much to realize how severe this is for a nation that relies so heavily on these communications. Banks, businesses, law enforcement,  _hospitals_  would all be feeling the repercussions. And to be honest, Batman has no plans for this. He's cut off from his resources and from outside help. All he can do is keep watch, trying to keep some semi-balance of order. He has to trust in the team, trust in his  _partner_ , to stop this. It's a job for a covert team, not for Batman who still has a city to monitor, and definitely not for Bruce Wayne who will inevitably be put into the spotlight for this incident considering the fact that he owns half of the now malfunctioning communication lines in Gotham.

However, unbeknownst to the Dark Knight, Sportsmaster smugly slips out of STAR Labs with a suitcase in hand. The job is almost pitifully easily - the alarms are dead, and the building is as empty as a ghost town with its employees caught up in the traffic jam. He doesn't mind, though. What matters most is that the Light is one step closer to their goals, and the heros are far too late to stop them this time.

* * *

|  **BIALYA**

| September 5th, 5:20 PM

The team grows even more and more concerned as Superboy leads them out of the empty desert and towards much more dangerous territory: the capital.

"Remind me again why we aren't stopping our rampaging teammate from running straight into enemy territory?" Artemis stares at the image of Superboy just yards away, and although she knows that she probably can't stop him, she also knows that running straight into enemy territory ranked high on the common-sense list of "things not to let your teammates do."

"For once, I think I agree with you," adds Wally, but he is too consumed in his own thoughts to notice his teammate's look of surprise. He stands up, slamming his palms on the bioship and attracting everyone's attention. "I figured it out though - where Supes is going that is. Miss M, you mentioned Superboy was hearing some sort of noise, right?"

"Yes...for a while now apparently."

"And Kaldur, have you tried contacting Batman?"

The Atlantean looks puzzled at the question, but answers nonetheless. "Yes, in Quarac."

"Can you try again now?"

Kaldur complies, and the bioship is eerily quiet with only the sound of the static from the communicator filling the hull. Finally, he states the obvious. "It's...not working."

" _Exactly_ ," Wally says triumphantly. "It's not working, because it's being  _jammed._  And do you guys know how hard it is to jam the Justice League line? Most non-leaguers don't even know how it works because it incorporates alien technology. Only someone from the league could be doing this, or one other person."

The rest of the team comes to the conclusion immediately. "...Robin?"

Quietly, Artemis adds, "but why would he do that?"

"He wouldn't."

Everyone is silent because the implications of the statement are obvious, and this only fuels Wally's momentum further. "You know what else Robin can do? He has access to the Batcomputer, the Justice League's supercomputer, and he can hack into practically anything else just as easily. It's _Justice League_  technology! You know, ten times more advanced than anything on earth?"

Wally's arms are raised in exasperation since all he is met with are blank stares. No one gets it, and he's not sure explaining will do much good for the Martian and the Atlantean who are even more unfamiliar with technology than the already-lost Artemis. They just cannot comprehend the power of the supercomputer that lies at the heart of the Justice League's watchtower.

They've seen the ease at which Robin slips in and out of it, coaxing it to do his bidding, but it's only been small tasks. They don't realize how easily the same computer can bring down a country's entire network.

"Okay, we get it," Artemis finally speaks up although her face still does not look too sure, "but what does that tell us about where he is? Or where Superboy is going?"

"Robin wouldn't be doing this willingly - someone's making him. Since Psimon is out of the picture, there's only one person in Bialya who could possibly pull it off, and we know exactly where to find her."

" _Hello_ , Megan," the Martian says, although her tone is much less cheerful than normal. "Queen Bee!"

"Right. And she's probably close to Robin, who's probably close to their technology center which Supes is likely bent on destroying now and blowing our cover if we don't stop him."

"No," answers Kaldur, much to Wally's surprise. They are far too close to the capital now, and as a military-trained soldier, he knows it is more than likely that Superboy has already been spotted. Any attempts at stopping him would only get them all discovered. It is his mistake for not stopping it earlier. Everyone is a little off their game today, but the mistake isn't a total failure. They can use it to their advantage. "What we need is...a distraction."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I apologize I am so bad at updating my AO3 stuff u__u;;

**Author's Note:**

> This was done for the YJ anon meme  
> Original prompt: http://yj-anon-meme.livejournal.com/6185.html?thread=18135849#t18135849
> 
> And for those of you who don't know, Dr. Freeze / Victor Fries basically has a wife that he froze because she had a terminal illness and modern medicine at the time couldn't treat her. He resorted to crime to steal research funding and eventually because he wants to make everyone else suffer like he is since he truly adores his wife...but in the DCnU apparently he's just an obsessive stalker?? Ugh oh well I'm going to ignore the New 52 like everyone else lol


End file.
